| MSiA
RX-78-2 Gundam (2nd ver)
Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA) Title: RX-78-2 Gundam (2nd ver) Release Date: 08/2001 Suggested Price: ¥ 1500 No. of Parts: 1 Gundam figure + 15 parts Plastic colors: white, red, blue, yellow, gray, dark olive green, transparent pink, black Gimmicks: beam rifle, hyper bazooka, shield, beam javelin, beam saber (2), beam saber handle (2), hands (6), backpack, bazooka mount, Gundam hammer, hyper hammer
Contributor: White Wolf Date: July 25, 2004 Ah, the RX-78-2 Gundam. Possibly the most famous MS of all time. The hero of the first Gundam series ever made. Well, Bandai did a poor job on the first MSiA RX-78-2, an improved job on the RX-78-2 and G-fighter pack, but an awesome job on this MSiA!! Well, lets get to it!
Well, compared to the first version and the ver. 1.5, this head is a heck of a lot better. It is not all bulky like the 1.5 and unlike the 1.0, is on a ball joint. It has beautifully painted panel lines and painted vulcan guns. Again, the V-fin is very bendable, but that is to be expected. The eyes and head cameras are painted very well. The head is very hard to pull off, but has the gray 'neck' and has little detail, but what detail is really there anyway? Very sleek design and more true to the newer version head than the anime series head.
Where do I start about the torso? The torso is COMPLETELY redone! It is well painted and panel lined. The upper torso is connected to the waist by ball joint so it can do a 360 degree spin if it wanted. It can also move up, down, and to the sides, but very little. There is one addition that I never expected and that they have yet to do on another MSiA is an opening cockpit! The whole cockpit door flips open from the top and inside is a little, fully white, Amuro Ray!! If you were to take off the cockpit door, you can even see the view screens inside!! The backpack is not anime like. Its thrusters can move down to where they're pointing to the ground, a little side to side, and up to where they're pointing straight out. The backpack is removable and has LOTS of detail inside! You can see all the wires and vents inside! The beam sabers are removable but I'll tell more about that in the weapons/accessories part. The waist skirt armor is made up of 6 individually moving pieces but not recommended to move because it might warp the plastic. There is a rectangular hole in the back of the skirt armor for the bazooka mount. Now to the arms!
The arms are totally redone also. They have shoulders that move (if looking at side of Gundam) to the left and right in a circular motion to give the arms more articulation. The shoulder pads are normal panel-lined shoulder pads that have no markings or insignias, unlike its American counterpart. The arms are double-jointed, and the hands are ball jointed. The hands are a dark olive green color and come 3 different types: trigger hand, beam saber hand in which the thumb and pointing finger are molded together to hold beam saber well, they can't hold anything else, and of course, the fists. The forearm has rectangular holes for shield.
The legs aren't really the totally redone things, its the feet. But first the legs. The legs are panel-lined (like everything else on this figure) and are double-jointed and have a little rectangular thruster on back of leg, unlike anime. Now for the feet. The feet are ball-jointed to legs so that they can move up, down, and can even do a 360° spin! The foot binders can move up and down and can come off. Actually the legs are connected via ball joint to the top of the feet which is in a box shape and that has the foot binders on it and the bottom of the feet are connected via ball joint to that. The ball joint connecting the top and bottom foot is at the front of the 'box', not the bottom, and since the feet slant upwards if going from back of foot to front of foot from the side, the ball joint connects and the top of that slant. The feet can go forwards but can go backwards pretty far. For instance, if the Gundam was kneeling, it could almost stand flat on its feet! The bottom of the foot is very detailed with red thrusters, vents, and 4 gray mini thrusters.
Hyper bazooka- The hyper bazooka is the best of the 1.0 and 1.5's bazookas because it has the gray and white colors and no bulky parts sticking out of it since the 2nd ver. Gundam comes with a bazooka mount. It is held well but if for instance using it in the right hand and shooting something to the right, it would hit the beam saber handle on its backpack, which is annoying, so be careful. Hyper bazooka mount- This little piece serves its purpose well and fits very well, and since Gundam is so articulated, you can make a pose of him grabbing his Hyper bazooka off his back with the bazooka still in the mount and not bending anything! Beam rifle- The beam rifle is redone in which the target can be removed only after taking the nozzle off, and can swivel up and down to fit where the Gundam 'eye' is. The handle is also movable so that Gundam can hold his rifle with 2 hands. It does occasionally tilt in the hand since the trigger finger does not fit snugly in the trigger area. Beam saber- The beam saber fits well in Gundam's backpack and hand and the beam fits snugly in the handle. Shield- The shield has been redone where the part that fits into the arm actually wraps around the arm and fits tightly. It and the handle fit on the shield via ball joint. The handle fits in the hand very snugly and again is ball-jointed. The peg that goes on Gundam's backpack is bigger and wider so that it fits better. Beam javelin- The beam javelin is exactly like the 1.5 version, except that you can't take the handle off the pole. It has the triangular beam spikes and the bigger middle one. Gundam/hyper hammer- These hammers are a plastic handle on a real chain and then a spiky ball. The Gundam hammer has a good handle so that the Gundam can hold it well. The hyper hammer on the other hand though, has a little peg-like handle that fits poorly. Otherwise, the actual ball is very detailed.
All in all, this Gundam is a great upgrade to the ever so popular mecha from Mobile Suit Gundam. The whole mobile suit is redone (mostly) and is great. I highly recommend it if you're a Gundam fan. Lots of accessories and great articulation. Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars <<back to Gundam |
